Yahoo signs Samsung deal
Internet giant Yahoo has done a deal with Samsung that will result in the company’s services being pre-loaded onto “tens of millions of Samsung mobile devices” from as early as next month. Services including Yahoo Calendar, Yahoo Messenger, Yahoo News, Yahoo Search and Yahoo Mail will all be embedded on Samsung devices running Google’s Android platform or Samsung’s own operating system, bada.
This global deal has been signed today between Dr. Ho Soo Lee, EVP, media solution centre, Samsung Electronics and David Ko, SVP, audience, mobile and local, North America, Yahoo and strengthens a previous partnership between the two companies that was formed in 2007.
Neither Yahoo nor Samsung have commented on the financial details regarding this new deal but have said it will provide millions of additional Samsung device owners with access to Yahoo services.
Source: GSMA Mobile Business Briefing
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BlackBerry Ditches Qwerty And Launches Pearl 3G
Research in Motion, the company behind the BlackBerry, has launched a new phone and it’s their first without a qwerty keypad, reports The Daily Telegraph. The Pearl 3G is the first BlackBerry to be use a normal mobile phone keypad.
The Pearl 3G was launched in Orlando, Florida today at the WES2010 conference. Research in Motion has also said the mobile phone is its smallest ever handset. It weighs only 93g and looks just like a normal mobile phone instead of having the usual BlackBerry look.
The BlackBerry has been popular with business users because of its qwerty keypad enabling users to write emails easily or edit documents while out and about. Barack Obama is one of their well known celebrity users – he used it to update twitter while on his campaign trail.
The Pearl 3G however, will only be available in Europe and the Middle East. A contributing editor for the gadget website Gizmodo said this was a change for BlackBerry. Kat Hannaford said BlackBerry was aiming for a younger market rather than their traditional business user.
The Pearl 3G has a 3.2 megapixel camera and an optical trackpad – a change from the traditional trackball of other BlackBerries.
We’ll keep our eyes and ears to the ground to find out if the new Pearl 3G is a success for Research in Motion.
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Source: The Daily Telegraph
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Google’s Nexus One Available In UK From Friday
If you want a Google Nexus One phone then it’ll be available from Vodafone shops from Friday, reports The Daily Telegraph. Initially it had only been possible to buy the mobile phone via the internet.
The move to Vodafone shops is a first for the world. It will be the first time in the world the Nexus One will be available via a store rather than online. The phone will be available from 30 April either online, over the phone or via the shop free on a two year contract costing £35 a month.
A spokesman for Google said they decided the quickest way to get the Nexus One to European customers was via a network partner and initially via Vodafone.
Other tariffs will be available, the cheapest being £25 a month but the phone will cost £99. And while initially American customers were unhappy with Google support for the phone, in the UK Vodafone will provide customers with technical assistance.
Sales have been slow in America for the Nexus One but this is largely being put down to the fact that it can only be bought online. We will watch and wait to see if having the Nexus One in a shop, where people can touch and feel it, will improve sales for Google.
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Source: The Daily Telegraph
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Regulators reject Orange Sunrise merger
Regulators in Switzerland have blocked a proposed mobile network merger between France Telecom’s Orange and TDC’s Sunrise in Switzerland on the grounds of anti-trust, according to a Reuters report. In an issued statement, Switzerland’s Competition Commission commented “These two companies would have been in a collective dominant position which risked eliminating effective competition”
This ruling will come as a big blow to the two smaller networks in Switzerland, who at the end of last year had made an agreement to join forces in an attempt to take on market-leader – Swisscom. But, as advised by the regulator, by turning the market into a ‘duopoly’ it would have kept prices high.
Both France Telecom and TDC disagree with that claim:
“[We] strongly believe that the contemplated combination and the substantial commitments that they had proposed to undertake would have benefited the Swiss consumer”
Speaking to Reuters, a France Telecom representative advised that the two companies do have 30 days to appeal against the decision to a federal court – but as yet have not decided whether to do so.
Source: GSMA Mobile Business Briefing
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Nokia Struggles To Compete With iPhone & BlackBerry
Nokia has issued a warning that its profits are suffering as it tries to keep up with Research in Motion and Apple, reports The Guardian. Nokia is struggling to compete with the makers of the BlackBerry and the iPhone and other handsets that are using Google’s Android operating system.
Nokia has had to cut its prices as it tries to maintain its market share and it’s expected that there will be further cuts. But if Nokia has to keep cutting prices then obviously profits are going to suffer.
Nokia is the largest handset maker in the world but it still hasn’t come up with a rival for the iPhone or the BlackBerry. The Finnish firm is due to release a smartphone in the second quarter of this year but it doesn’t seem likely that shipments will take place until the third quarter.
It’s thought the Nokia smartphone is a touchscreen handset with a 12 megapixel camera and the plan is that it will compete with the next generation iPhone.
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Source: The Guardian
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Intel’s interest in mobile market
According to a GSMA Mobile Business Briefing article, communications and computing giant Intel has dropped hints that it is looking into more acquisitions in the mobile sector as efforts move to diversify into new areas including smartphones and other consumer electronics.
In an interview for Bloomberg, held at Intel’s New York headquarters this week, CFO Stacy Smith said:
“We are looking at what we believe can accelerate our progress in those markets… As we see other opportunities like that, we think it’s a place where we can and will deploy capital”
It is acknowledged that Intel’s processors run approximately 80% of the world’s PCs – and this accounts for practically 90% of the company’s total sales. However, it is positioning its new scaled-down processor, the Atom, for use in smartphones and other portable devices.
Just in January, Intel announced their return to the mobile device market, following a four year absence, when it confirmed a brand new partnership with handset-maker LG.
According to the Bloomberg interview, Smith did not reveal any specific acquisition marks but pointed out that purchases would be similar to last year’s acquisition of software maker Wind River Systems – which provided Intel with the software which runs devices ranging from cars to mobile phones.
Source: GSMA Mobile Business Briefing
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iPhone Sales Help Apple Profits Rise
Apple has announced pre-tax profits of $4bn compared with $2.4bn for the same quarter last year, reports The Daily Telegraph. Sales have risen by $3.5bn to $13.5bn. It means Apple profits have risen by 69% in the first three months of the year as consumers continue their love affair with the Apple iPhone.
Steve Jobs said as well as launching their Apple iPad the company had several more products to launch later in the year. However, the figures for January to March don’t include the iPad sales so analysts are expecting even better results from Apple in the next quarter.
The increase in sales appears to be down to the Apple iPhone. Apple sold 8.7million iPhones in the first three months to March 27, which is more than twice the number sold during the same period last year. This could be down to new iPhone suppliers in the U.K. with Orange and Vodafone now stocking the smartphone.
Sales are likely to continue to increase as Apple is expected to launch the Apple 4G version of its iPhone in the summer.
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Source: The Daily Telegraph
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Apple iPhone 4G Unveiled – Accidentally
Someone’s in trouble because the new Apple iPhone has been accidentally unveiled in a bar in California, reports The Times Online. The new iPhone 4G was left in a bar by an employee of Apple.
Apple devices are usually unveiled by Steve Jobs after days or even months of hype but the Apple employee accidentally left his 4G phone on a bar stool before another drinker found it and reported about it on a blog.
The new handset has squarer edges than a 3G iPhone, a flat back and is said to be made of ceramic glass material which will allegedly provide the phone with better reception. The display is said to be better and it has a longer battery life. It even has a camera in the front to enable video chat.
The finder of the device approached Gizmodo which is reported to have paid the finder $5,000 for access to the device. They then took lots of photos and even took it apart to see how it worked.
Meanwhile lawyers for Apple have sent a letter to Gizmodo asking for the iPhone to be returned. The official launch of the 4G iPhone will allegedly take place in June.
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Source: The Times Online
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Sony Ericsson Posts Profit
Sony Ericsson has posted a first quarter pre-tax profit, reports thisislondon.co.uk. Only a year ago the mobile phone handset manufacturer made a €370 million loss and earlier in the year predicted only a small growth in handset sales this year.
Last year the handset market contracted but it looks like things are improving and Sony Ericsson is benefitting from a move into the smartphone market. The mobile phone business also cut costs in order to increase margins.
Sony Ericsson has therefore reported a pre-tax profit of €18 million for the first quarter even though sales were down but experts had been expecting them to post a loss of around €157 million.
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Source: thisislondon.co.uk
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Introducing The Kin From Microsoft
Microsoft has created a phone aimed at those people who live their lives online, reports BBC News Online. The phone is called the Kin and will be marketed at younger users who visit social networking sites.
Microsoft says the phones are designed to help people stay in touch with their friends and share content with them. It also has a high resolution camera and can access Zune – Microsoft’s music service.
Microsoft hopes the Kin will be competition for phones such as the Apple iPhone, Google’s Nexus and the BlackBerry from Research in Motion.
The phones are made by Sharp and will be available to buy in America in May while those in Europe will have to wait until the Autumn before the Kin is available on Vodafone.
There are two Kin handsets and both have a multi-touch screen and a slide-out keyboard. The home screen continually shows updates from social networking sites including continual twitter updates, text messages and updates from friends.
The new Kin phone will mean Microsoft has complete control over both the hardware and the software on a phone for the first time.
So it remains to be seen whether Microsoft has left the creation of its social networking phone too late and given the rest of the pack too much of a head start.
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Source: BBC News Online